Bauer Wins Ritter Parker Store 75! By Dan Margetta

(Slinger, WI); July 22, 2007 - Josh Bauer drove to his first victory of the season, leading flag to flag in the Ritter Parker Store 75-lap late model feature Sunday night at the Slinger Super Speedway.

“This was a long time coming,” an excited Bauer stated from Victory Lane. “It’s almost a year to the date to the last feature win and the way we’ve been struggling this year, this just feels good.”

Bauer gunned to the lead from the outside of the front row and never looked back, leading every lap of the caution-free event.

“I don’t think we would have lasted if there had been a caution because it started getting really loose there at the end,” Bauer continued.

Photo Highlights

Josh Bauer collected his first Super Late Model feature win of the 2007 season leading the Ritter Parker Store 75 from green to checkered. Al Schill (#14) and Lowell Bennett (#2) demonstrate the close and competitive nature of the Super Late Model class, with some close racing during the feature event. Tommy Hromadka (#3) topped the Super Late Model semi-feature event. Mike Egan (#89) was victorious in the Super Late Model dash. John Reynolds Jr. (#10) worked the high line to get to the front of the Limited Late Model main event and came away with a victory. Chris Ratajczyk topped the dash in Limited Late Model action. Mike Graczkowski (#2) was the evening's winner in the Midwest Sportsman feature race.

Donavan Morgan shared the front row with Bauer at the start and quickly fell into second place while Nick Schumacher, Dale Prunty, and Race Mc Comb followed. Bauer began to stretch his lead over Morgan as Schumacher and Prunty battled for third while McComb maintained the fifth spot. Mike Egan and Gary LaMonte put on the best battle on the speedway over the sixth spot with Egan eventually taking the position using the inside lane. Tommy Pecaro looped his car in turn two on lap 25 but the race remained under the green as he was able to continue with Bauer still leading over Morgan.

As Bauer and Morgan weaved their way through lapped traffic, Dale Prunty was able to work his way around Schumacher for third by lap 40. Behind the leaders, Lowell Bennett, David Prunty, and Al Schill looked to move forward after starting deep in the field but neither was able to make much progress, running just inside the top ten. Bauer kept his machine out front the entire distance and drove to his first win of the season while Morgan ran a steady race to finish a strong second. Dale Prunty also remained solid the entire race and crossed the finish line in third place while Schumacher took the checkered flag in fourth. Race McComb wrapped up his strongest run of the season with a respectable fifth place finish ahead of Mike Strupp and Lowell Bennett. Nick Hammer, Al Schill, and Gary LaMonte rounded out the top ten finishers.

Tommy Hromadka held off Mike Meyerhofer to win the 30-lap late model semi-feature while Scott Schoeni, Joe DeStefano Jr., and Brady Bennett finished in third through fifth respectively. Mike Egan took home the win in the late model fast dash and Mike Strupp was the fastest qualifier at 11.489 seconds.

Jon Reynolds Jr. took to the high groove to win the 30-lap limited late model feature.

Chris Ratajczyk paced the opening laps over Josh Wallace and Steve Apel while David McCardle raced with Rob Braun and Reynolds close behind them. Reynolds was able to race his way into fourth place by lap five and used the upper groove to charge into second five laps later. By lap 15, Reynolds closed the distance between himself and Ratajczyk for the lead and began to work the outside in a bid to get by. Reynolds pulled alongside Ratajczyk on lap 18 and with Ratajczyk pinned on the inside just enough to prevent a good run off the corner, Reynolds advanced to the lead as they exited turn two. Once out front, Reynolds was never seriously challenged and he drove to the win over Ratajczyk while Josh Wallace finished in third place. Steve Apel and Rob Braun rounded out the top five finishers. In earlier action, Ratajczyk scored the win in the limited late model fast dash and Reynolds led qualifying at 12.271 seconds.

Mike Graczkowski held off Scott Shambeau and Kenny Joosten to win the 30-lap Midwest Sportsman feature.

Shawn Hoefler and Jake Vanoskey led the field to the green flag with Vanoskey taking sole possession of the lead on lap four. Vanoskey held the point for another four circuits before Scott Shambeau worked his way around and into the lead. Behind the leaders, Graczkowski had moved into fifth place, just behind Dave Thomas and Jeff Holtz. Graczkowksi continued his march forward by lap 20, taking over third place while Shambeau led over Vanoskey. Three laps later, Graczkowski was on the move again, taking second place from Vanoskey while Kenny Joosten charged into the top five. Fluid on the racetrack produced the first and only caution of the race on lap 26 just after Graczkowski edged ahead of Shambeau for the lead. Taking the inside lane for the restart, Graczkowksi lauched into the lead over Shambeau while Joosten and Thomas worked on Vanoskey for third. At the finish, Graczkowski took the checkered flag first for the win while Shambeau held off Joosten for second. Thomas and Vanoskey were fourth and fifth respectively. Graczkowski also scored the win in the Midwest Sportsman fast dash and Joosten was the fastest qualifier at 12.774 seconds.

Ryan Gutknecht took top honors in the 18-lap Thunderstock main event.

Bill Johnson led the opening laps while Jim Bentzler and Paul Konieczny battled with Gutknecht behind the leader. Gutknecht immediately charged forward, taking over the lead on lap five as Chris Sackman, Dave Edwards, and Seth Lootans joined the front- runners. Gutknecht threaded his way through heavy traffic and maintained his lead all the way to the checkered flag, taking the win over Edwards and Lootans. Sackman and Konieczny were fourth and fifth respectively. Earlier in the evening, Lootans led qualifying at 13.737 seconds.

Jared Apel took command of the 16-lap Slinger Bees feature on lap four and raced to the win over Jesse Knutson and Zach Durham. C.J. Corallini finished in fourth place ahead of Nathan Jensen who was fifth. Bob Losiniecki was the Slinger Bees fastest qualifier at 16.227 seconds.

Wayne Schaefer was the winner of the Speedway Guest Car race and Joe DeStefano won the Spectator Elimination race. Scott Goetzke closed the night with a convincing win in the Figure 8 event.
 

For Complete results from the RACESTAT computer CLICK HERE 

Professional Plumbers and Contractors - PPC 75

(Slinger, WI) Sunday Night July 29th: The Professional Plumbers and Contractors PPC 75. A 75 lap Late Model Feature is headlining the racing events. Late Models will be joined by: Limited Late Models, Midwest Sportsman, Midwest Modified, Thunderstock, Slinger Bee’s, one on one spectators, The West Bend Savings Bank Speedway Guest Cars, and those wild and crazy Figure 8’s. Gates open at 4:45, Qualifying at 5:15, and Racing at 7:00.

The Professional Plumbers and Contractors (PPC) is a membership organization serving the Milwaukee, Madison, and Janesville areas. By providing the highest levels of craftsmanship and integrity in our industry, PPC can provide our customers with a valuable 5-year limited warranty. When you hire a PPC plumber, you'll know your project is done right the first time. Visit us at: www.ppcplumbers.com.

There are select advertising and sponsorship opportunities available for the 2007 season. For more information, contact the speedway’s PR and Marketing at: 262-370-0440, slingerspeedway1@aol.com, or visit our web site at: www.slingersuperspeedway.com.